Revealed: IRS targeted groups critical of government

For years, the IRS has specifically gone after groups that criticized the US government, including tea party organizations and other conservative political groups. News of the targeted audits has caused many Americans to distrust the government.

President Barack Obama on Monday condemned such
actions, announcing that the IRS must be “held fully
accountable” if the agency did indeed screen conservatives
intentionally
-- particularly before the November elections.

Non-profit groups that requested tax-exempt status were more
frequently flagged for audits if they criticized “how the
country is being run” or if they contained key words such as
“Tea Party”, according to an investigative report from the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

Seeking to “make America a better place to live” and
criticizing government spending were also red flags for IRS workers
deciding which groups to audit. Key words that generated closer
scrutiny also included “Patriot” and “9/12”.

The IRS began to illegally target “Tea Party or similar
organizations” in March 2010, and by June 2011, more than 100
Tea Party-related tax-exempt applications had been flagged for
review by the Cincinnati-based IRS unit responsible for overseeing
them, according to a draft IRS inspector general report.

By July 2011, the IRS had gone from targeting groups with key
words to targeting “organizations involved with political,
lobbying or advocacy” – and by January 2012, the restrictions
were changed to go after “political action type organizations
involved in limiting/expanding government, educating on the
Constitution and Bill of Rights, [and] social economic
reform/movement,” the TIGTA report states.

Facing allegations that the IRS was engaged in these practices,
former Commissioner Doug Shulman testified before a congressional
committee in March 2012, claiming that the agency does not target
tax-exempt organizations based on their political affiliations or
ideologies.

But during the month Schulman was testifying, the IRS changed
its criteria for closer examination to include tax-exempt groups
“with indicators of significant amounts of campaign intervention
(raising questions as to exempt purpose and/or excess private
benefit),” the investigative report states.

After news about the IRS scheme was reported on
Friday, lawmakers have condemned the agency for what Sen.
Susan Collins described as a “truly outrageous” breach of
public trust.

“It contributes to the profound distrust that the American
people have in government,” she told CNN, adding that President
Barack Obama should publicly condemn the agency.

Although the IRS practices targeted conservative groups, the
agency established a distrust that could run deep among Americans
of every political party.

“I don’t care if you’re a conservative, a liberal, a Democrat
or a Republican, this should send a chill up your spine,” Rep.
Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said
while he was calling for a full investigation of IRS practices.

Rep. Darrell Issa told CNNon Sunday that this
“kind of thing scares the American people to their
core”.

The IRS has long denied targeting conservative groups for
audits, but last week admitted its illegal missteps. Louis Lerner,
director of exempt organizations for the IRS,on Friday
apologized for the “inappropriate” targeting of conservative
organizations.

Facing pressure from lawmakers urging the IRS’ public
condemnation, the president on Monday denounced the
targeting of conservative groups, but failed to directly accuse the
IRS of its engagement in such actions.

“If in fact IRS personnel engaged in the kind of practices
that have been reported on and were intentionally targeting
conservative groups, then that’s outrageous and there’s no place
for it – and they have to be held fully accountable,” President
Obama said Monday after learning of the allegations
against the IRS through news reports.

The president said he does not want to judge the findings
“prematurely”. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have called
for an extensive investigation into what Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Max Baucus called an “outrageous abuse of
power”.